This chapter's a little shorter, but it's got a lot packed in it. Hope you like it, please review!

Two days later, Mallory gave herself one last look in the mirror, running a brush through her black hair one more time even though it was already lying smooth. She sighed and went down the hall to the training room, ready to go talk to Wally for the first time since Artemis' death. Peter and Gar were training on their own when she got to the room, and she smiled and took a moment to watch them expertly dodge and lunge at each other. When Peter noticed her, he grinned and threw Gar over his shoulder, ending the fight.

"Hey, where you going?" he asked as they both walked to the side of the arena.

"Nowhere, I'm just going to see Wally," she said nonchalantly.

Peter shrugged. "Tell him hey," he said.

Mallory nodded and rubbed his head. "I'll see you tonight," she promised.

He rolled his eyes, smoothing his hair back down. "Just go already," he said.

Mallory laughed and looked around the room, feeling like she was forgetting something. She sighed and finally went to the zeta tube, punching in the coordinates closest to Stanford University.

It took her an hour of wandering the university to get her nerve up to go talk to Wally, but she finally managed to force herself to his door. She stared at the white paint, an inexplicable stab of fear coursing through her. She shook it off. This was Wally, her friend, and he was hurting. Her knuckles came down on the door softly, and she took a step back, waiting. Several long moments passed with nothing, then she heard Wally's voice from inside.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Wally. I just wanted to make sure you're…ok." It was such a stupid thing to say, but it was the only thing that came to mind.

He sighed heavily, but he still didn't open the door. "I'm fine, thanks for coming."

"Wally, please," she said, her voice quiet. Another beat went by, long enough to make her think about leaving, but finally the door swung open and she was staring at her friend's face. It wasn't the one she knew, though. It was devoid of emotion, completely blank, and he seemed to be staring right through her. It nearly broke her, but she fought back the tears.

"Why did you really come?" he asked.

She sighed. "I don't know, I just wanted to see you, see how you're holding up." She couldn't keep the tears back any longer, and they started to trickle down her cheeks as she continued, "I'm so sorry, Wally. I should have done something, I should have been there."

He clenched his jaw, and there was a flicker of anger burning behind his eyes. "No, she shouldn't have been there," he said, turning away.

It was that moment that Mallory realized that he blamed them for Artemis' death. He blamed the team, the League, even himself. He didn't hug her, didn't suggest they go do something, wouldn't even look at her. It was so foreign to what their relationship had been like just a few days ago, and she didn't know how to work with it. Finally, after just standing there on the steps for a long time, she sighed, nodded, and started walking back to the street. She looked back once, but he had already closed the door, so she turned back around and kept walking, feeling like she had lost them both.

She ended up in Metropolis, not wanting to go back home and not knowing what else to do. She didn't feel like patrolling either, so she just flew around high above the city, wishing she could turn the clock back and wondering just exactly when their lives had started crashing down around them. Her comm buzzed in her ear, but she sighed, ignoring the call. The next call was to every Leaguer. It was Mal, which immediately had her hair raised.

"Duncan to League. Mount Justice is…gone."

Mallory was at a zeta tube in seconds, her fingers shaking as she punched in the coordinates to the cave.

"Location unavailable," the computer told her.

A knife twisted around her heart. "No, no, no," she muttered, slamming her fist down again. Again, the computer told her it was not there. She punched in the closest coordinates and was sucked in, coming out in Happy Harbor. There was a column of fire going up into the sky where the mountain, where her home, had been. All she could do was stare at it for a moment, her chest threatening to explode, tears wanting to come. Then, panic mounted on top of everything.

"Peter!" she all but screamed, and she flamed up, flying as fast as she could into the aftermath of the explosion. "Peter! Oh, God, please no, Nightwing! Gar! Superboy! Anyone, please," she pushed the fire away, desperately trying to find anyone, knowing exactly where each room of the cave had been.

"Inferno!"

She turned, her eyes wild with fear, and saw Mal at the edge of where it was burning. He was pointing out at the sea. Mallory flew up to look and saw Sphere floating about a mile out. She couldn't make out who was on her, but at least two people and Wolf were there. Mal was taking off his jacket to swim out, but she didn't wait. She shot out to meet them, hoping and praying that everyone was all right. She landed perched on the top of the New Geneisphere and choked out a sob of relief to see her little brother in the seat, Conner's arm over him protectively. She pulled him to her, holding him tight with one arm, and gently shook Conner and Dick with her other.

"Guys? Superboy? Nightwing?" She didn't get a response. "Dick! Conner!" she yelled.

Mal was there by then, and they exchanged a worried look. The water lapped at Sphere's sides, and Dick was pulled into the water. Mallory went to lunge to get him, but Mal went under, coming back to the surface with the leader a second later. Mallory looked back at Conner, still refusing to let go of her brother.

"Conner! Wake up!" Mal yelled, splashing some water at him.

He woke with a start and looked around. "What?"

"Questions later, man. Grab Wolf, the S-cycle's sinking!" Mal said.

Conner shook himself out of his daze as much as he could and grabbed his pet. Mallory flamed up, holding Peter, and she flew up a little. Sphere closed up and started to sink to the ocean floor.

"Is she going to be all right?" Mal asked.

"Uh, yeah, I think so. She folds up to heal," Conner replied.

"Can you make it to shore with Nightwing?" Mallory asked. Mal nodded and he and Conner started swimming. Mallory flew to shore with her brother and watched as the boys swam back, making sure that they all made it. They did, and Conner laid down on the beach, rubbing his head. Mallory stared at him wide eyed.

"Where's Gar?" she asked.

Conner winced. "They got him," he said.

"Who?! What happened here?!" Mallory yelled, her fear coming out as anger.

Conner looked up at her grimly. "Kaldur brought some friends here. He collected us and took Gar and Impulse and Beetle. They left us for a reason, said their partner wouldn't want ordinary humans or a clone."

"Was that everyone that was in the cave?" Mal asked. Conner nodded.

Mallory looked back at the mountain, her hatred for Kaldur overshadowed by her confusion that he could destroy their home, the place that they had made so many memories. She had to remind herself that he killed Artemis, so of course he could blow up the cave. Her hatred returned, burning within her as she walked through the flames, looking around, pulling all of her memories of the rooms and everything that was inside them. She made it to where her room had been and tried to picture it when she closed her eyes, but all she could smell was ash. She looked back at her friends, reminding herself that their job wasn't over. Kaldur had three of the team, which meant that the Light did too.

Conner was staring at her, his face angry and confused and a little scared, just like hers was, and she winced. The cave was the only home Conner knew. She walked over and pulled him into a quick hug. He comm started crackling, the Leaguers asking what was going on. Mallory pressed the button, trying to find the words, but they escaped her. All she could manage to get out was, "it's gone. It's all gone."